Chapter 199: Hu Wanlin
Li Dong was dealing with documents at the company, while Zheng Long was facing trouble on his end.
What he thought would be a minor task of picking someone up turned into a major issue. Zheng Long had just dropped Wang Jia off, and before they could even enter the hospital gate, they were stopped by three men.
The three men blocking them consisted of two burly guys and a middle-aged man in a suit.
Upon seeing them, Wang Jia's face turned pale, and she instinctively stepped behind Zheng Long.
Zheng Long frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "What do you want?"
The two burly men, clearly thugs, remained silent. The middle-aged man, however, smiled and said, "Don't misunderstand. Miss Wang should know us. We have legitimate business with Miss Wang."
The middle-aged man then turned to Wang Jia and said, "Miss Wang, it's been quite a while since you left. We've been waiting here for two months."
Wang Jia's face grew even paler. She hadn't expected these people to have stayed put for so long.
Originally, she planned to visit her mother today and stay for another day or two before heading to Beijing. By then, even if these people knew she had returned, there would be nothing they could do.
But to her dismay, they had been waiting for two months. Such persistence was nearly overwhelming.
Regarding Li Dong's offer to help, Wang Jia couldn't take it seriously.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Li Dong, but with issues involving millions in funds, she didn't dare or feel comfortable asking Li Dong to handle it.
She could still repay a few hundred thousand, but millions were beyond her reach.
Seeing Wang Jia's silence, the middle-aged man remained unperturbed and continued to smile, "Miss Wang, paying back debts is a matter of course. Avoiding the issue isn't a solution. It must be dealt with, don't you agree?"
"I have no money!" Wang Jia bit her lip and said.
The middle-aged man's smile remained unwavering as he replied, "Miss Wang not having money is fine. As long as someone has money. A person driving a luxury car like a Benz should be able to come up with a million or two, right?"
He then turned to Zheng Long and said with a smile, "Sir, would you like me to call your boss?"
The middle-aged man could immediately tell Zheng Long's identity, not just from his keen observation but also from recognizing Li Dong's car.
Li Dong had visited the hospital a few times before, but those visits were with Fang Qingfei, and they hadn't approached Li Dong.
In their line of work, it's important to know whom to provoke and whom to avoid. They understood this well.
When Li Dong came earlier, he appeared to be just a bystander and didn't seem very close to Wang Jia's mother. They were cautious not to provoke Li Dong and bring trouble.
But now that Li Dong's car had brought Wang Jia to the hospital, it gave them more confidence.
As long as it involved a debtor, it was fine. If they had a good relationship, even better. This way, approaching Li Dong wasn't unreasonable, as even wealthy people had to be reasonable.
Zheng Long hesitated, glanced at Wang Jia, who looked flustered, and after some thought, decided to call Li Dong.
…
When Li Dong received Zheng Long's call, he was somewhat surprised.
He had intended to discuss the matter with these people, but he didn't expect them to arrive so quickly.
Wang Jia had just returned to Pingchuan a day ago, and already these people had shown up. Their determination was exceptional.
Li Dong didn't say much. Hearing from Zheng Long that the people hadn't been violent but were blocking them from leaving, Li Dong instructed, "Let him take the call."
The phone was soon handed to the middle-aged man.
Taking the call, the middle-aged man said politely, "Mr. Li, sorry for the intrusion."
He didn't know Li Dong's full name but had heard Zheng Long refer to him as Mr. Li.
Even though they were high-interest lenders, they were still polite to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
Without indulging in pleasantries, Li Dong said directly, "Let's skip the small talk. Let's meet this evening. I'd like to discuss something with you."
The middle-aged man responded with a smile, "Sure, we'll meet at 7 PM this evening at Gui Xiang Lou, next to the hospital. See you then."
"Alright, see you then."
…
After hanging up, the middle-aged man handed the phone back to Zheng Long.
He then turned to Wang Jia and said with a smile, "Miss Wang, if I had known that Mr. Li was a friend of yours, we wouldn't have had to spend months in the hospital. I'll apologize for the disturbance later."
With that, the middle-aged man waved to the two burly men, and the three of them left without any delay.
He wasn't worried about Wang Jia running away. Even if she did, it wouldn't matter much.
Besides, Wang Jia's mother was about to undergo surgery. Even if Wang Jia ran, it wouldn't affect them.
Wang Jia sighed in relief only after they had left.
Zheng Long reassured her, "Miss Wang, don't worry. Mr. Li will handle it."
Wang Jia forced a smile but sighed inwardly.
…
…
At 7 PM, Gui Xiang Lou.
Despite its name, Gui Xiang Lou was not a restaurant but a tea house.
When Li Dong arrived, the middle-aged man was engaged in conversation with a woman in her thirties.
Upon seeing this woman, Li Dong's eyebrows raised in surprise.
The woman clearly recognized Li Dong as well, furrowing her brow slightly before standing up and smiling, "Mr. Li, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Li Dong responded calmly, "I didn't expect to run into General Manager Hu here. It's quite a surprise."
Although Li Dong wasn't very familiar with this woman, he had seen her a few times before.
However, the last time they met was not in Pingchuan but in Beijing.
During the acquisition of Baidu stocks, Li Dong had met Lin Yang, a friend from his previous life, and subsequently got to know Lin Yang's middle school classmate, Hu Yue.
This woman was Hu Yue's boss, or perhaps her aunt or great-aunt, though Li Dong couldn't recall exactly.
At that time, they stayed at the same hotel and had a few encounters, so they were acquaintances.
Back then, this woman had seemed quite authoritative, and Li Dong assumed she was a company executive or similar.
He didn't expect to meet her in such a situation, and she was the main party in the conversation. Li Dong could only marvel at the unpredictability of appearances.
At this point, who else but high-interest lenders would be meeting him?
A woman, a mature and beautiful woman, yet engaging in predatory business—Li Dong could only smile wryly.
Hu Wanlin didn't mind Li Dong's probing gaze and chuckled, "I didn't expect to meet Mr. Li again. If I had known it was you, I would have brought Hu Yue along."
Li Dong smiled and didn't respond. He stepped aside to highlight the man beside him and introduced, "This is Director Wu. He's here to join us for the occasion. General Manager Hu, I hope you don't mind."
Hu Wanlin had been focused on Li Dong and hadn't paid much attention to Wu Jianguo.
When Li Dong stepped aside, Hu Wanlin finally saw Wu Jianguo's face and then chuckled, "Director Wu, what a coincidence!"
Wu Jianguo responded casually, "It is quite a coincidence. Had I known we were all familiar faces, we should have gathered earlier."
Li Dong's eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at Wu Jianguo.
He hadn't expected Wu Jianguo to know Hu Wanlin as well, and from the tone, they seemed quite familiar.
This was an unexpected twist for Li Dong. He had initially planned to use Wu Jianguo to intimidate the high-interest lenders, as they would generally be wary of police officers.
But now the situation had changed, with Wu Jianguo and Hu Wanlin knowing each other.
Li Dong sighed inwardly. It seemed there were indeed many familiar faces these days.
It was astonishing how people he casually interacted with could end up being connected in such convoluted ways. What more could he say?
Not only was Li Dong surprised, but Hu Wanlin didn't appear as calm as she tried to seem.
Handling a debt issue was one thing; if the amount weren't so large, she wouldn't have come personally.
But she hadn't anticipated the situation turning out like this.